Kentucky Derby Betting - Trifecta Ticket gets BIG Value

Race-day:  5/2/2009
Race-time:  6:24 pm est.

The 135th Kentucky Derby will be run this Saturday at around 6:30 pm eastern time.  It’s the one race of the day where all eyes will be on thoroughbred racing.  Because of that the pools in the Kentucky Derby usually swell larger than any other race on any day in the world.

There are a plethora of wagers on which BetUS online racebook fans can make money.  But discipline must be the name of the game on Kentucky Derby Day.  Discipline requires that horseplayers look for the bets that can make them the most profit with the least investment.

To me, when it comes to the Kentucky Derby itself, the best wager is the trifecta. 

Let’s take a look at my trifecta ticket for the 135th Kentucky Derby.

Trifecta Ticket

Horses I’m going to use:

16 – Pioneerof The Nile
10 – Regal Ransom
13 – I Want Revenge
19 – Desert Party
15 – Dunkirk
6 – Friesan Fire

There are two trifecta tickets that I intend to play on Saturday.  The first is what’s called a trifecta wheel.  Trifecta wheels are created by using key horses in certain slots in the trifecta over or under other horses.

The most effective trifecta that I’ve found is a wheel that involves using 2 horses in the win slot, 4 horses in the place slot, and 6 horses in the show slot.

Now, 2 of the 4 horses in the place slot are the same 2 from the win slot.  Four of the horses in the show slot are the same 4 from the place slot.

So who gets into the win slot?  To me that would be Pioneerof The Nile, who I believe will win the Kentucky Derby, and Regal Ransom, who I feel has a shot at wiring the field on Saturday.

Who gets the other 2 positions in the place slot?  I’m going with I Want Revenge, the morning line favorite who has been working up a storm at Churchill Downs, and Desert Party, the Godolphin horse that is out of Street Cry, the sire of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense.

That means that Dunkirk, the Todd Pletcher trained sensation with only three lifetime starts, and Friesan Fire, the Larry Jones trained horse that will be running in the Kentucky Derby off of a 7 week layoff, to round out the show slot.

The ticket looks like this:

10, 16 with 10,13,16,19 with 6,10,13,15,16,19

Total cost for a $2 bet = $60

The other trifecta wager that I will be playing on Saturday is the trifecta box.

In the trifecta box, horseplayers simply put a number of horses into a box.  Combinations are calculated as if each horse in the box has the same chance to finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd.

A four horse trifecta box is usually effective for the Kentucky Derby. 

Here is my four horse trifecta box:

(10,13,16,19)

There are 12 combinations for each horse.  There are 4 horses.  So…

Total cost for a $2 bet = $48